We have completed maintenance on DiscoverMagazine.com and action may be required on your account. Learn More

A Turbulent Mind: The Physics of Van Gogh's Starry Night

Van Gogh's Starry Night, painted in an insane asylum, accurately models a mystery of physics

By Kathryn Garfield
Oct 9, 2006 12:00 AMApr 11, 2023 4:09 PM

Newsletter

Sign up for our email newsletter for the latest science news
 

Vincent van Gogh was a brilliant depicter of natural phenomena, especially when he was at his most psychotic. According to José Luis Aragón of the National Autonomous University in Mexico, Van Gogh's famous spiral brushstrokes are near-perfect renderings of turbulence. From the largest visible swaths of paint to the tiniest strokes, Van Gogh's brushwork seems instinctually guided to simulate river eddies and cloud rotations.

Aragón and a colleague, Manuel Torres, plotted the swirls in Van Gogh's most turbulent paintings, which, coincidentally or not, were made during his most serious dips in mental health. Starry Night was painted during the artist's stint in a French insane asylum. Road With Cypress and Star was made after a prolonged bout of disturbing hallucinations, and Wheat Field With Crows was finished just before Van Gogh committed suicide.

Aragón found that Van Gogh's eddies matched the famous Kolmogorov statistical model of turbulence. For a layman like Van Gogh, that's quite a coup, since the problem of turbulence is generally considered the last unsolved mystery of classical physics. Is it possible that Van Gogh's mind, warped by disease, was prepared to grasp phenomena that have baffled physicists for centuries?

This isn't the first time Van Gogh's talent for rendering natural forms has made him a scientific standout. Last year a study found that bumblebees that had never encountered real flowers favored Van Gogh's Sunflowers over the floral works of other well-known artists.

1 free article left
Want More? Get unlimited access for as low as $1.99/month

Already a subscriber?

Register or Log In

1 free articleSubscribe
Discover Magazine Logo
Want more?

Keep reading for as low as $1.99!

Subscribe

Already a subscriber?

Register or Log In

More From Discover
Recommendations From Our Store
Shop Now
Stay Curious
Join
Our List

Sign up for our weekly science updates.

 
Subscribe
To The Magazine

Save up to 40% off the cover price when you subscribe to Discover magazine.

Copyright © 2024 Kalmbach Media Co.